JD Estes, naval air base, Corpus Christi, Texas, August 1942

In the 18th century, a coarse fabric manufactured in Genoa, Italy, and worn by labourers was referred to as bleu de Gênes, which gave us “jeans”. At the same time, a tough twill fabric made in the south of France called serge de Nîmes gave us “denim”. Back then, the fabric was made from a blend of wool and silk, unlike today’s denim, which is mostly made from cotton. Without doubt, the godfathers of denim workwear were Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis